THESE fundraisers make us feel like dancing! They are members of the Melton Mavericks Line Dance Club and have today donated £50 to The Evening Star's Lifesaver appeal.

THESE fundraisers make us feel like dancing!

They are members of the Melton Mavericks Line Dance Club and have today donated £50 to The Evening Star's Lifesaver appeal.

The Star is trying to raise £22,000 for a cardiac ultrasound machine for Ipswich Hospital's accident and emergency department.

The dancers raised the money by making donations instead of sending each other greeting's cards at Christmas.

The group has around 40 members and meets at the St Audreys club, Melton.

Secretary Steph Riddleston said: “Two people in our club have had to go to Papworth Hospital with heart conditions and they agreed it would be much better for people in Suffolk if they had one of these ultrasound machines here.

“Last year we did the same thing to raise money and donated it to operation Santa Claus, which helps local charities.

“There are several of us in the club and we don't want to send everyone a Christmas card so this is a good alternative.”

The ultrasound machine helps doctors diagnose acute cardiac conditions, including heart failure, and is expected to help around 1,000 people every year.

Currently, the hospital relies on older technology such as x-rays. It has other ultrasound machines in the radiology department but often A&E patients need a scan immediately and the new machine will be on hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

The state-of-the-art machine can also do other ultrasound scans besides those for the heart.

Weblinks:

www.eveningstar.co.uk/lifesaver

www.ipswichhospital.org.uk

n To support the appeal, send a cheque made out to Lifesaver: Evening Star Christmas Appeal 2006, to 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP4 1AN. You can also donate online.

Shoppers at East of England Co-operative Society stores can help by using the special dividend number 977.